Page 4 of Night of the Living Manny
To Liam’s utter surprise, all three kids got up and headed toward the kitchen without him having to pull out a cattle prod.
“Go, Moose. Watch.” Moose bolted after the kids.
“Does that work? The ‘watch’ thing?” God, he had a headache.
“It does to a point. He’s better at that with ones in diapers, but he’s a good boy.” Brenden smiled faintly. “I take it they just really started acting out recently?”
“Yeah. This project… I leave at six in the morning, and if I’m home by midnight sometimes, it’s a miracle. Lisa watched them, but she’s pregnant, and morning sickness is kicking her butt. She’s going to quit the lab, I think, and be a stay-at-home mom.”
“Oh, that’s tough.” Brenden rummaged in his bag. “Here’s my references. My last set of kids just moved out of state. A ten-year-old and a thirteen-year-old. Katie says to feel free to call. I’m really good with teenagers and tweens.” Brenden seemed sweet. Calm. Earnest. His hooligans were going to eat him alive.
Then again, Liam was a desperate man. “Can you start in the morning?”
“I can. Heck, if you need me to, I can stay the night since you have to go in so early.”
Relief flooded him. “Do you need to go home and get anything?”
“I have a bag in the car, and all of Moose’s stuff. I can go on my day off and get the rest.” Brenden gave him a wry smile. “I just moved back into my condo, so it’s clean as a whistle, and there’s no food.”
“Thank you. Seriously. I just….” Liam was tired. Bone-deep tired. And sad. And stressed. His whole body ached as if he was coming down with the flu.
“Hey. It’s okay. Have you guys had supper?”
“I need to order pizza.” Davido’s was on speed dial. He had an account.
“Okay. Do you need me to do it?”
“No, no. What do you like on your pizza?”
Brenden blinked. “Anything but pineapple.”
“So two deluxes and two cheese. I never know if Susanna will eat all the slices or none.”
“She is a teenager.” Brenden winked, as if that was a perfectly normal in-joke. “If you could carve me some time out in the next few days for a more in-depth talk about each kid, that would be perfect.”
“Of course. Totally. They’re not evil. Not usually. Well, maybe to each other.”
“No, I think the fact that you didn’t have to call anyone before now speaks volumes.” Brenden stood, then held out a hand, offering to shake.
Liam stood up, the scissors falling out of his pocket and landing point down on the floor. At least it wasn’t his foot.
“Oops.” Brenden bent at the same time he did, and they clunked heads moments later. “Oh! Sorry!”
“It’s okay. Totally. You want a cup of coffee? A Coke?” Did you offer the babysitter a beer?
“A Coke would be great.” Brenden followed him to the kitchen, where all three kids sat at the table, leaning toward each other, expressions serious.
“We’ve had a meeting,” Susanna started, and Liam forced himself not to groan. Danger.
Brenden nodded, face schooled into blankness, which was impressive. “Okay. What did you determine?”
“We took a vote. Britt wants a babysitter, Peter and I don’t. We don’t need one.”
Liam opened his mouth to—what? To yell? But Brenden just shrugged and spoke before he could. “Well, I’ll be here for you two any time you need me, but Britt and I will do the lion’s share of the nanny thing.”
“Really?” Peter looked utterly confused.
“Yep. I mean, I’m sure you can eat if I cook, right? I would be sad if I only had to cook for two. It’s way harder.” Perfect straight face.
